The Emotional Experience of Music.

In this study, we examined whether people listening to music experience emotions which are congruent with those the music was intended to express. Eastern Kentucky University student participants were randomly assigned to listen to one of three 4- minute musical selections: one was intended to express happiness; another sadness; and the third (Balinese music) acted as a control, as it has an ambiguous emotional expressiveness which is somewhat irritating to Western ears. After listening to one piece of music, participants completed a questionnaire in which they rated their experience of 25 emotions on a 6-point scale (from 0 to 5). (Questionnaires were counterbalanced for order of emotions.) We expected (for the happy and sad pieces) that participants would experience emotions consistent with the emotions the music was intended to express. We analyzed participants\u27 ratings for 3 emotions (happy, sad, and irritating) using ANOVA. Participants rated the happy piece as happy (with an average rating of 3.7) and also rated it as happier than the sad piece. Participants rated the sad piece as sadder than either of the other two pieces, but their rating of sadness was only 2.4, a rating just below the middle of the ranking scale. Participants did not experience the Balinese music (or any of the other pieces) as irritating. Apparently participants are aware of emotional expression in music, though more so when the emotion expressed is happiness than when it is sadness